The Lawyer Who Reads Tomorrow - Chapter 32

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Episode 32

 

 

There was something I had occasionally wondered about.

It was a question I couldn’t solve despite handling criminal cases for quite a long time.

 

“….”

 

The man only spat out the phone number, then stared at the ceiling with empty eyes.

It seemed he had nothing more to say, nor the mental capacity left to do so.

 

“…Lawyer Sung Tae-hyun.”

 

Somehow, I didn’t want to let go of his collar.

 

This was the first time I’d felt such a strange impulse.

Even as I suppressed and swallowed this irrational sensation, I continued to grip the man’s collar tightly.

 

My wrist was starting to ache from handling the muscles of a large adult male.

Even so, the thought of not wanting to let him go like this dominated my mind.

 

“Lawyer Sung.”

“….”

 

My head was buzzing.

The man who had deliberately closed his eyes stubbornly kept his mouth shut.

So the one who kept talking to me was.

 

“Let’s stop, Tae-hyun.”

 

…Right, it was Noh Hae-min.

 

Despite the impulsive situation, Noh Hae-min didn’t panic.

No, he didn’t even show signs of it.

 

He gently took my hand that was gripping the man’s collar tightly, and soothingly pulled it away.

My hand, which wouldn’t come off as if glued with bond, smoothly released.

 

“…Are you okay?”

 

Only then did our eyes meet.

Noh Hae-min, with his bright yellow bleached hair and flour-white complexion, spoke in an even softer voice than usual.

 

“….”

“Let’s go. There doesn’t seem to be anything more to gain.”

 

The palm that had been gripping the man tightly was red.

I pushed away Noh Hae-min, who was about to say something more, and slowly got up from my position to look around.

Soju bottles and beer bottles rolling around here and there, the disgustingly sticky room floor.

 

And.

 

“…Did Hwan kill Shin Da-ye?”

 

The man lying on the ground kept his eyes closed as if pretending to be dead.

In the room where even breathing sounds had become silent, tears continuously flowed down from beneath his closed eyes.

 

“Did you kill her?”

“….”

“Where is it? Where’s the building where Shin Da-ye was confined?”

“….”

“Was Sage taken away immediately after contacting you?”

“….”

 

Right, there was always something I had been curious about.

 

The man no longer spoke.

He just kept his mouth tightly shut while tears streamed down his face.

 

My shadow was cast over the man’s body lying on the ground.

 

“That money.”

 

I quietly muttered as if for the man to hear.

 

“The money you earned by killing your daughter.”

 

Whether something was gained or not gained.

After everything was over.

 

“Keep it safe.”

 

What I was truly curious about was one thing.

 

Not Sung Tae-hyun’s disgustingly racing heartbeat.

Not what the man who wouldn’t open his eyes was trying to avoid.

 

“Because that will be the last banknote you touch in society.”

 

Whether the perpetrator, who was crying so pitifully that it would break an observer’s heart,

had ever truly felt regret.

 

“….”

 

There was a time when I was curious about such things.

 

* * *

 

There were two gains from Da-ye’s house in total.

 

A phone number belonging to someone called ‘Hwan’ and one small plastic bottle.

 

Da-ye’s Father didn’t open his eyes until we left.

Even though I blatantly entered the room Da-ye used to use and came out picking up trash from her room.

 

“Hwan, so it wasn’t Kang Hwan-pil.”

 

As soon as we left Da-ye’s House, I got Assemblyman Kang Hwan-pil’s number from Lee Na-yoon.

I only wondered because there were overlapping characters.

 

-The customer’s phone is turned off…

 

“He’s not answering his phone either.”

“…Sung Tae-hyun.”

 

For some reason, Noh Hae-min had been whining like a dog that needed to poop since earlier.

 

“What is it, senior?”

“Huh? Uh-huh, are you okay?”

“What do you mean?”

 

Noh Hae-min, who seemed flustered by my counter-question, widened his eyes and hung an awkward smile on his lips.

 

“No… you just seem a bit different from usual.”

 

What should I call this.

 

Should I say he’s good at empathizing, or that he meddles in useless things.

 

Either way, it wasn’t a particularly bad feeling.

It was just a bit annoying.

 

“For now, the probability that Hwan is Kang Hwan-pil seems rather low.”

“…Yeah.”

 

I just checked roughly because one character of the name was the same.

What kind of relationship the city councilman Kim Wan-gil, who never caused trouble, might have with deeper entanglements would only be known by digging into it.

Generally, such figures rarely step forward like action leaders to do things.

 

“…Da-ye’s Father spoke as if Hwan had killed Da-ye.”

 

If he’s taking care of even such things…

Well, Park Ji-hyung seems closer than Kim Wan-gil or Kang Hwan-pil.

Park Hyung-il, who was the real Perpetrator who killed Kim Jae-yoon in the last incident, his father.

 

Park Ji-hyung had been going around handling dirty work on behalf of Kim Wan-gil in my previous life too.

 

“…But Park Ji-hyung was never called ‘Hwan’…”

 

This was a bit troublesome.

It means a new person exists.

 

“How about not pushing yourself too hard today?”

 

As my thoughts grew long, Noh Hae-min awkwardly patted my shoulder.

 

“What do you mean pushing myself.”

“Hey- you, right now. To your senior.”

“Senior.”

 

I lifted the trash I’d been holding in my hand since earlier and waved it at his eye level.

 

A small pink plastic bottle.

It was palm-sized trash that had been carelessly placed on Da-ye’s Desk.

 

“…This…”

 

The bottle with its cap closed only gave off a sweet smell.

On the surface, there was sticky liquid that had slightly dripped down and hardened.

 

Was that all.

The liquid that seemed to still have a little left, slightly sloshing at the bottom, was certainly something Da-ye had risked her life to bring.

 

“…That’s the right product.”

 

Noh Hae-min gulped.

Even though we had long left Da-ye’s House, his face remained pale as if he couldn’t feel at ease.

 

“It probably is.”

 

The Smart Watch that Sage had sent.

And how could I forget the product name that kept coming up like a round song even in several recordings.

It was a bottle so ordinary that even Da-ye’s Father might have mistaken it for trash.

 

“…When did you even grab this.”

 

Noh Hae-min licked his dry lips as if he had done something bad.

 

I was just dumbfounded.

While coming out of that house, I had searched through everything that could be searched.

 

Unlike the Living Room and Bathroom that were full of liquor bottles, Da-ye’s Room wasn’t that dirty.

Except for this one bottle abandoned on the clean Desk as if calculated.

 

“Didn’t you see? I grabbed it before we came out.”

“…Really?”

 

He really didn’t know.

Seriously, this kid, his mind is wandering off.

 

I suppressed the surging spirit of an old-fashioned scold within me and let out a sigh.

Well, maybe he was shocked seeing traces of such a household and an abused person.

 

“This product, you said it’s being heavily advertised right now?”

“…Yeah. I heard it’s been selling well for years, especially in health and beauty-focused stores.”

 

So that means the problem isn’t with the product itself.

If there had been issues with a product that’s been selling well for years, consumers would have been up in arms first.

 

But there were no special reports of problems with the product itself.

Which means…

 

“…But Attorney Sung, by any chance…”

“What is it? Senior.”

 

Noh Hae-min, who had been moving his lips as if to ask something, shook his head again.

 

“Ah… it’s nothing.”

“…Did you eat something wrong?”

“…No. I was just curious about something.”

“What about?”

“Just, I think it’ll be fine.”

 

Bland. So bland it seemed like it needed salt.

Well, since he said it was nothing, it would be strange to pry further.

Rather, the problem was this unidentified liquid in my hand.

 

“Let’s contact Manager Yoon first and head back.”

“…Yeah.”

“And if you get in touch with Sage, let me know right away.”

“…Got it.”

 

Noh Hae-min left surprisingly easily.

I thought he’d cling on a bit more.

 

I sealed the pink bottle with advertising copy like “Packed with healthy collagen!” tightly in the bag.

 

“Something was definitely mixed in.”

 

Watching Noh Hae-min’s retreating figure, I was thinking of someone else.

 

It had been several years.

Someone I hadn’t been able to see even once since my death…

 

“We were quite close in my previous life.”

 

Choi Yoon… no, let’s forget that name now.

The face I saw at my funeral hall was the last, and if necessary, it’s a name I’ll bring down along with Cheondong.

 

“…Regret.”

 

Just as I swallowed that word I couldn’t ask him about until the end and was about to turn away.

Noh Hae-min’s steps, who had been walking away in the distance, suddenly stopped.

 

“…What.”

 

I didn’t have time to think it was strange.

 

Suddenly, the diary in my bag was vibrating as if it were some cutting-edge device.

There’s no way Haeil would have put such smart features into just a diary.

 

…Could Sung Tae-hyun’s soul be making an emergency call?

 

The diary was now even emitting a pure white light.

 

“Wait, just a moment.”

 

I carefully looked around and moved to a corner.

It would be troublesome if someone like Lee Na-yoon caught me taking out a glowing diary.

 

But something even more troublesome happened.

 

“…Attorney Sung Tae-hyun.”

 

Noh Hae-min, who had quickly closed the distance and approached, suddenly thrust his phone screen right in front of my eyes.

 

“I found Sage.”

 

And on that screen.

 

[LIVE ● This is Sage.]

 

A video that seemed to be a real-time broadcast was playing.

 

* * *

 

In some alley where light barely penetrated.

Sage was running, panting with his face drenched in cold sweat.

 

-…I’m, I’m… sorry. Sorry…

 

The rough breathing that escaped suggested the situation he was in.

 

-I’m alive. Beina, everyone, I’m still al-, huff, alive…

 

Sage swallowed his unstable breathing several times and looked around.

Having run out barefoot, stone fragments rolling on the improperly maintained ground had embedded in his feet, causing pain.

 

The alley, which remained dark even in broad daylight, was filled with houses that all looked the same no matter where he went.

 

He desperately muttered toward the camera.

As if it were the last lifeline that could save him.

 

-You know, Beina. I’m not, not crazy. Please, don’t believe anyone….

 

He had to get to where there were many people.

After barely escaping from that damn building, that was the only thought dominating his mind.

 

-The agency is lying

 

Sage muttered desperately.

The unfocused mobile phone camera was transmitting a screen as dizzying as the shaking view.

 

-Whatever Ellus said, it’s all lies… li, huh… lies.

 

The remaining battery was probably around 5%.

The chat window of the live broadcast was buzzing, but he continued to scan his surroundings with his eyes.

 

Not yet.

They hadn’t discovered him yet.

 

-Huff, huh… Please, believe me.

 

In the distance, the main street finally began to come into view.

Sage started running with all his might.

 

The phone screen he clutched desperately finally turned black.

 

[LIVE- OFF]

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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